When Sir Richard Branson bought the £10m Caribbean island of Moskito in 2007
and pledged to turn it into a luxury 'eco-resort' he was widely applauded by
conservationists.

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Sir Richard has been accused of threatening its fragile ecology by planning to import non-native lemurs to live on the island

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They fear that the lemurs, which live in the wild only on Madagascar, will bring in disease, devour insects and birds' eggs, destroy plants and wipe out the island's "dwarf gecko" (Sphaerodactylus parthenopion), one of the world's rarest lizardsPhoto: ALAMY

The Virgin tycoon said he had purchased the pristine island – part of the 60-strongBritish Virgin Islands(BVI) – to "protect" it and create "the most ecologically friendly island in the world".

But now Sir Richard has been accused of threatening its fragile ecology by planning to import non-native lemurs to live there.

Scientists say that lemurs are "opportunistic predators" that will threaten native species and are "totally unsuited" to the 120-acre island's habitat.

They fear that the lemurs, which live in the wild only on Madagascar, will bring in disease, devour insects and birds' eggs, destroy plants and wipe out the island's "dwarf gecko" (Sphaerodactylus parthenopion), one of the world's rarest lizards.

Sir Richard has applied for – and been granted – permission to bring in about 30 ring-tailed lemurs, with the first group due to arrive in the next two or three weeks.

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The small primates, collected from zoos, will be kept in "large, comfortable cages" to acclimatise to their new island home before being released into the wild.

The Virgin billionaire plans to bring in other species of lemur – the ruffed and the sifaka are possibilities – if the introduction is successful.

Speaking from the neighbouring 74-acre island of Necker – which he bought for a reported £180,000 in 1976 – Sir Richard said: "The lemur's rainforest habitat is under threat on Madagascar.

"We want to create a second island habitat and the conditions on Moskito are perfect."

He said two-thirds of the island was rainforest and experts he had brought in from South Africa had concluded that the habitat would suit lemurs.

"They will be fully inoculated, so disease will not be a problem, and we will nurture them, with vets on hand if they have any health problems," he said.

The lemur project is the latest initiative launched by Virgin Unite, the group's charitable foundation, to protect endangered species.

Sir Richard said the lemurs might "take the odd gecko" but there were over 1,000 geckos on the island and their population would not be damaged.

He added that lemurs "hate swimming" and so would be unlikely to reach other islands.

One of his advisers, Lara Mostert, from the Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary, in South Africa, said Sir Richard's lemurs would have a much better life than in the zoos where they currently live and would thrive on Moskito.

Lemurs provided many of the popular characters in the 2005 animated children's film Madagascar and Ms Mostert suggested Sir Richard's son "wanted a lemur after seeing the movie".

But conservationists said the animals would have a devastating effect on the island's wildlife.

Dr James Lazell, a, biologist and president of the US-based Conservation Agency said: "Lemurs are agile, dexterous, aggressive, omnivorous animals that could have a detrimental effect on these simple island ecologies.

Dr Lazell, who has been involved in BVI conservation for 31 years, said introducing exotic lemurs into the BVI was an "appalling" idea and lemurs would probably "extirpate" the "BVI endemic dwarf ground gecko".

She said the island's native habitat was Caribbean dry forest and feared that Sir Richard would try to replace this with "an artificial rainforest ecosystem".

Clive Petrovic, an ecologist who led the environmental impact assessment for Sir Richard's development – before the lemurs plan was announced – said the island should be "extra cautious" about bringing in non-native animals because of the risk of disease.

Islanders have criticised the minister of natural resources, Omar Hodge, who they accuse of approving Sir Richard's application despite objections from the government's own experts.

Lorie Rymer, who is standing for office in the BVI elections later this year – in the district that includes Moskito and the neighbouring island of Virgin Gorda, the second largest in the BVI – has launched a petition against Sir Richard's lemurs plan.

Concerns over invasive species have been heightened in the BVI since Pacific lionfish escaped from a Miami aquarium after Hurricane Andrew in 1997 and spread throughout the Caribbean region, causing damage on the reefs.

Moskito island, which lies between Necker and Virgin Gorda, is said to take its name from the Moskito Indians who lived in the area from before the 1500s, rather than from the mosquito insect.

The BVI, a British overseas territory, includes the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with over 50 other smaller islands. The islands' total population is about 25,000.

Sir Richard said that buyers had already been found for the "seven or eight" luxury, carbon-neutral, private homes that would be built on the island by late 2013.